Throwback Monday, Birthday Memories

 Today is my birthday. No big celebrations planned, but my family has made it special for me all the same. After I get past the number, I don't feel much older than I did years ago. However, perhaps I am a little wiser and more content.

To celebrate on my blog, I'm going to rerun a post I did in June 2022 about birthday memories from when I was a young child. Here it is.

____________________________________

Memories

One of my recent StoryWorth prompts was, "What Were Birthdays Like When You Were A Child?" For the prompt, I wrote about birthday traditions from my childhood and how they varied as I got older. Then I sent a draft to my sisters, complete with a picture from my 6th birthday party. I often send drafts of the prompts to them to get comments about what they remember and sometimes to clarify things. This usually leads to interesting discussions and reminiscing.

After reviewing what I had sent, my oldest sister commented that the picture was not from my 6th birthday but more like my 4th. She is six years older than I am, so she often has clearer memories of things than I do from the early years. However, I told her that I remember this birthday very clearly because that was when I got a Bible with my name on it, and Mother didn't give us Bibles until we could read. I was not reading at four. Then another sister chimed in and said that four made sense to her. I was starting to get irritated because they didn't agree with me. This was not a fuzzy memory as some things were. It was very clear to me. I responded and said the picture was labeled on the back in Mother's handwriting, and it said, "June's 6th birthday." The oldest sister said that wasn't right if you looked at the clues in the picture's background; it looked like we hadn't lived in this particular house for very long because of the sparseness of furniture. I couldn't believe that she was persisting with her line of thinking after all I said. 

The next thing I did was get the picture out to scan the back of it and send proof that I was right. And you know what I found? I found it was my handwriting on the back of the picture, not my mother's. When I looked at the picture more carefully, and one of my 5th birthday, I had to agree that it was when I turned four that I got the Bible. 

How could I be so sure but be so wrong? I had a clear mental image of my mother's labeling on the back, and I thought I remembered the event so well. This points out that our memories are just memories, not necessarily an accurate depiction of what really happened. In this case, I think what I had done was combine my "memories" with labels from other pictures. And over the years, I reinforced my confusion until I was sure of the "facts."

There have been many studies about the accuracy of memories, and they have concluded that there can be problems. In general, the more sensory clues associated with the memory, the more likely it is to be accurate. However, a person can totally believe what they "remember" is true. Not necessarily that they were lying when facts prove them wrong. What does all of this mean? Well, not much in my case. Whether I was four or six when I got my Bible is of no consequence. But in serious issues such as trials or hearings, the complexity of memories should be considered.

_____________________________

Until next time...

Thankful Sunday

 

I am thankful for rain.

We have been suffering from extreme temperatures and bad air quality from the Canadian wildfires. We had a couple of days of Code Purple for air quality. I guess I'm lucky that I didn't even know that there was a designation beyond Red before this. However, yesterday a series of storms moved across the area and cleared the air. So, today I plan to be outside and enjoy the sunshine and plants around me. And for that I am thankful.

Dancing Under the Stars

Sky Stage Ribbon Plant Sculpture

Ward and I went line dancing last Saturday evening to a new venue for us - Sky Stage in Frederick, MD

The Sky Stage building was originally built in 1762 and was used to manufacture gun parts for the Revolutionary War. In more recent history, it was owned by General Engineering Co., which manufactured sewer pipe fittings. In 2010, a fire gutted the building and left the original stone structure with no roof. It sat boarded up for years until Heather Clark envisioned it as an art venue. Today, it has an open roof, concrete floor, bleachers, and a unique ribbon-sculpture garden. It hosts dramas, storytimes, art classes, films, dances, and various other events.

Saturday, it was host to a line dance. Ward and I have been curious about Sky Stage for a while, so we took this opportunity to see what it was like.  

I was too hot at this point and was sitting out for a while.

The dancing was okay, but it was hot! It didn't seem too bad at first, but once we started dancing, the heat and humidity became apparent. At one point, I wasn't sure if it was raining or if that was me dripping sweat. Later, in the evening, a storm blew over with a little rain, but brought a welcome relief from the heat. 

What did we think? Will we go back? For the right program, yes. But not for dancing until it's not so hot. 

Thankful Sunday

 I am thankful for small surprises.

The previous owner planted various flowers around the yard. However, in many of those places, there is now too much shade for the flowers to bloom. That was the case for these day lilies. For the nine years we have lived here, there has been too much shade from this honeysuckle bush and the adjacent crabapple tree for anything more than some leaves to grow. However, I turned around the other day and was greeted by these bright blooms. It was a surprise that made my morning. And for that I am thankful.

Until next time...

This and That

Time seems to fly by without me getting around to a blog update, so I'm going to make it happen this morning. I think I'll do it mostly in pictures because we all know they're worth 1,000 words. 😀

Ward is back from the cruise he took with one of our line dance groups to the Bahamas. He had a great time. Too bad that I'm so prone to motion sickness, or I would have gone along. He was on the smaller ship.

The deer have enjoyed munching on various things.
They really liked this big pot of parsley.

The crows seem to prefer flowers. These were full of blooms until the crows had a meal.

I guess all of God's critters gotta eat, but Ward has built a fence around our garden to hopefully direct them elsewhere.  I have great plans for this enclosed space next year. And maybe this year, the deer won't eat all of our tomatoes. 

I'm hoping this little guy is eating some of the mosquitoes in the yard.

And speaking of the garden, it's zucchini time. Last night I tried some in the air fryer with a little seasoning and Parmesan cheese. It was delicious.

We had several days with temperatures of 100°F or more.
 Finally, we had a storm and rain that broke the heat. Yay!

The heat has kept me mostly inside, so I'm on a decluttering kick. I've gone through everything in the family room, starting with these shelves. Books are hard to get rid of, but we did manage to donate some. Now, I'm working in the office. Decluttering is never a fun job, and Ward hates it, but I will say he is cooperating nicely. 

Well, that's all the exciting news for today.

Until next time...